Andy Cohen’s column on Dolphins.com appears at 6 a.m. every weekday from training camp through the season and when events warrant during the offseason. Occasionally, like today, Andy will provide six things to think about. Thus, the title, “Six at Six.”

1. It’s so easy now to see the pieces coming together. A left tackle. A defensive tackle. A guard. A cornerback. It all fits. It all makes sense. It is all part of The Plan to re-tool the Dolphins quickly and efficiently. Week one of free agency gave us the first real sign of what the new tandem of GM Dennis Hickey and Coach Joe Philbin is all about. And, truthfully, how can you not be impressed?

2. The Dolphins showed us a nice mixture of going for the big money talent and going for value. They quickly closed the deal on left tackle Branden Albert, and didn’t hesitate opening the vault. They paid what the market dictated. Then with some of the others, like defensive tackle Earl Mitchell and offensive guard Shelley Smith, they went with players who have just scratched the surface of potential. They paid enough to make it happen, but didn’t overspend. The same with defensive tackle Randy Starks.

3. Dennis Hickey has gotten off to a solid start as the team’s general manager. He clearly does his homework and comes across as sincere and diligent. I’m anxious to see where he goes from here. I like the fact that he didn’t mind rolling the dice a little with a player like cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who struggled last season in St. Louis after putting together an impressive resume with the Titans for six seasons. Low risk, very high reward.

4. Imagine if Finnegan works out. Imagine if he returns to the form that saw him become one of the league’s most consistently good corners. The Dolphins would then have perhaps the smallest starting duo in the league (both Brent Grimes and Finnegan are about 5-9) but the feistiest as well. I just love the attitude that Grimes and Finnegan brings to each Sunday. Let’s just hope it’s contagious.

5. There is still plenty of work ahead on the offensive line but left tackle is set with Albert, center remains solid with Mike Pouncey and you can now pencil in Smith at one of the guard positions. That leaves one tackle and a guard and maybe some added depth to find in free agency and the draft. With three of the five pieces in place, a complete makeover/upgrade is clearly now attainable.

6. What now? What should we expect in Week Two and beyond? The answer is simple: More of the same. I expect the Dolphins to continue to look for value, and there’s still plenty of that out there. Oh, Hickey may have one or two big splashes left (running back? right tackle?) but I don’t see panic on the agenda and I continue to see a well-defined plan of attack unfolding before the draft fills in most of the final pieces.

Please Note:
The opinions, analysis and/or speculation expressed by The Finsiders Blog represent those of individual writers, and unless quoted or clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions, policies or desires of the Miami Dolphins organization, front office, coaches and executives. Writers' views are formulated independently from any inside information and/or conversation with Dolphins officials, including the coaches and scouts, unless otherwise noted.

I urge everyone to go to palmbeachpost.com and in the Daily Dolphin section, they have a video of all 58 sacks from last year. (If you can stomach to watch it) I counted 19 times where it was either all Tannehill’s fault or partially Tannehill’s fault. Roughly one third of the sacks. See how many you come up with. WARNING: It’s ugly.

I would just as soon get Clabo signed. We have Brenner and Garner on the roster and still have the draft so I’m not too worried about RG. At 19 I’m drafting Ebron, Mosely, Donald, Clinton-Dix in that order if they’re available,

LeGarrette Blount is available. Sure would be nice if we could have some POWER to go along with the speed of Miller. Blount is strictly a power run back and he could be the answer to the 3rd and short situations that we failed at last year. We need a proven bruiser for those 3rd and short and goal line opportunities. Plus we can hammer New England with him and finally use a former patriot against them. RB’s ARE CHEAP!! PLEASE GET A POWER BACK!!

I like who we have signed so far and Hickey is doing a great job. Last year as I watched the Dolphins I saw a team that could not Block, Tackle, Run the Football, convert 3rd downs, get first downs and score more Touchdowns. It seemed like everyone either gave up, lost thier edge, or poor coaching? No matter what Hickey does, the coaches must teach the fundementals of football. Our LineBacker play was terrable. I hope that Philben and his coaches have a plan to get back to the basics and Hickey gets the players to function as a NFL team. Coyles defence fell apart and so did the whole team at the end?
2014 must be a come back year and we need a Fullback and a power running game. We need Playmakers to win the AFC East and make the playoffs for a change? Signed
Wounded Warrior!! I grade our whole roster with a C+ at ths point. It was a grade F last year so we are moving in the right Direction!!

Ok I have revised my draft picks based upon what Hickey has accomplished so far in Free Agency. I also think he will resign McKinnie for RT. I know a lot of people keep indicating Zack Martin at 19th pick. But I am not too excited about placing a guy named “Martin” at our RT. That didn’t really work out for us last year. I think McKinnie would be very good at RT. Here are my picks round 2:

We get some good quality O-linemen in 2nd ,3rd and 5th rounds. I think we need another young receiver and Washington we could get in the 6th. 4th round I could go either way Safety or CB. I chose a bigger Safety that has instincts to the ball especially for goal line situations. And a fullback that has good hands that can take care of those linebackers so our running backs can get to the next level and in open space. I think Lamar and Gillispie will be electrifying if they had a guy in front of them that could take out the LB or Safety that fills the hole.

Even though the majority of the FA talent has been taken at this point, I still think there are a couple of players that we could grab, if for nothing more than depth. The players remaining in FA are available at the cheapest prices, they’re good for depth. The more pieces we pick up now, the more it allows Hickey to pick BPA in the draft. Remember, just because we sign a player now, it doesn’t mean he’s going to make the roster of 53. If you want to roster 3 men at one position, you need to have at least 5 to choose from. 3 make the team, and 2 get cut. Now’s the time to pick up those players. Also, if you pick up a player now, and you acquire a better one in the draft, you can always cut the one you picked up earlier. But if you don’t pick up a player now and you miss acquiring your targeted player in the draft, you have no back up at that position. Better to pick it up now, you can always cut it later.

First and foremost….. I LOVE THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, no matter what!!!! I’ve been a loyal fan for 40 years! And proud of it! So now………I think everyone should just chillax a bit with all the LOVE for our new GM and all the hate with the last GM ( I actually gagged typing that) but it is true. And stop being so hard on our LB’s ( everyone loved those signings last year!)……..the fact is that the team was in a little disarray last season, so maybe some of the FA additions last year were impacted by that and could have bounce back seasons this year! The NFL is famous for bounce back seasons, not saying the LB’s will, but I am confident enough in Mr. Coyle to make that call…… Regardless, what I mean to point out is that WE were all happy with our FA signings last year, to now turn around and show obvious hate toward last years FA’s, and showing so much approval and LOVE for this years FA signings, but if it doesn’t work out, you will hate these guys and our new GM too! FACT IS signing any FA is a gamble to varying degrees and as fans WE NEED TO REALIZE THAT! Now I happen to actually love what our new GM has done so far, but I ALSO STILL love what we got in FA last year and am willing to wait and see what year 2 brings from most of those guys, especially our LB’s Wheeler and Ellerbe, and WR Gibson. All of those guys were highly regarded and highly sought after in FA last year, so I think those guys deserve a chance to prove themselves on what I believe will be a much better TEAM and organization this year! Oh, one last thing….if you are loving the new GM and the moves we are making that are so financially sound, then you need to show some love to Dawn Aponte……….. She is brilliant with the salary cap! AND THAT IS ALL HER, not the GM…….the only one better at handling and manipulating cap space would be that dude out in Colorado……………. GO PHINS!!!!!!! Its gonna be a helluva good year!!!!

All good movies to far. I’d like to bring back Brant McKinnie and/or Tyson Clabo for some insurance. Neither will demand a high salary, and they’ve proven to be loyal and “good enough.” Certainly better than Jonathan Martin.

I would give the Fins a B- so far. As always, AC reports on the positive only. I am pleased wih the moves we have made unquestionably. Filled some important holes and have not over spent. Kudos to the FO for that. We till have glaring holes unfortunately. 3 OL starting postions, a major need for ugrade at LB, and a short yardage RB(something many aren’t mentioning that cost us last yr in a big way). Most of the talent in these spots(except RB) has already been siged, meaning the FO couldn’t lure them to play for Miami. You are not going to draft 4 starters in the draft. The people were there in FA and we had the cap space, but did not get it done. I see us being better, but our Oline will still struggle barring a shocking trade, and we’ve done nothing to upgrade our pourus run defense either. Hoping Hickey has something up his sleeve. Go Phins!

Andy, why don’t you do the reporting for ESPN, because they person they have absolutely sucks!!!!! It would be nice if we could go into the draft looking to add depth and not looking to find a day one starter….Meaning we can draft best available and not draft for needs. So hopefully, we can fill our OG and RT spot fairly quickly….

smart smart smart. every move made was strategic, cost saving, effective, and SMART. love the new GM GO Dennis keep doing what your doing the FANS really appreciate it. your addressing neeed without OVER spending and getting some really quality players to not only add depth but add competition to be day one starters. EXCELLENT JOB